Kirino's 'Tail'
by Neru Vearin
Summary: Poor Kirino Ranmaru Prince of the merfolk royal family, had been unlucky enough to be caught in a storm, washing up on the beach. That's where Shindou found him. After they became friends, Kirino was forced to return to his home to protect his people from a looming danger, and a certain Brunette will have to choose between his crush and his entire lifestyle. AU Rantaku
1. Chapter 1

He had no idea a storm was coming his way.  
Poor, unlucky Kirino Ranmaru, prince of merfolk royal family, just happened to be outside of the magical barrier around his city when it came.

The pink haired merman washed up ashore on a cove hidden behind some large rocks. His eyes opened slightly, weakened from tossed around like a rag doll under the underwater tidal wave. He saw the cove, and wondered how long it'd take to swim home. His blue eyes spotted a few fish nearby. Using his undersea powers, he asked him how long it'd take to get back to the underwater capital.  
"A few days!" They replied before swimming away.  
Before Kirino could react, he started to feel dizzy. _Oh, no! I have to get back to the ocean to I'll-_  
The young merman didn't have time to finish his thought before he fell unconscious.

* * *

"And so, the coast of Inazuma town has been protected from a major storm yet again. Our satellites told us that a tidal wave was on its way, but luckily it lost power while out at sea!"  
Shindou Takuto lay lazily on the couch in his house in his house by the shore, watching the news report. He sighed and stood up, stretching before walking to his front door. He slipped on his sandals before walking out the door and onto the beach. The shore was empty, since it was a Wednesday afternoon, so many people were at work, however he had the day off of school due to the fact that he had just done exams and he had the next few off from school.

* * *

Shindou hummed a tune as he strolled down the shoreline. His eyes widened, alarmed when he saw a red liquid filling the water behind some rocks. Shindou climbed over the rocks in a rush, and was more then surprised at what he saw.  
Shindou was staring at a handsome young boy, unconscious and covered with cuts, laying down half in the shallow water where the sand sloped down and half on land.  
The brunette's eyes went to the boy's leg-wait. He didn't have any legs. Shindou let out a large gasp, instead of legs, this boy had a tail, which was the same color as the orange sunset.  
He suddenly noticed how much blood the merman was loosing, and was forced to cut his stare-session short as he ran back to his house to get a first aid kit.  
Shindou had finished bandaging up the young boy he found on the beach, but he noticed the pink-haired merman's breathing was very shallow.  
Shindou thought for a moment before pushing the merman's head underwater, not to deep, but just enough for his head to be completely submerged. Shindou watched in awe as the boy easily took deep breathes of water, and his breathing evened out.  
After that, the brunette leaned on a rock and waited for the pink-haired merman to wake up.

* * *

Kirino groaned as he woke up. He looked at himself, someone had bandaged him up! And he didn't remember fainting in the water; someone must have pushed him in. He sat up, leaning on his arms and observed the cove he was in. He froze and his widened when he reached the rocks nearby him.  
A human at sitting there  
leaning against the rock, fast asleep.  
Kirino noticed the first aid kit beside him, had that boy been the one to help the merman-in-need?  
Kirino shook his head, he had to get home! No human could know of his existence. Kirino couldn't swim far, he still to weak, but he had to get far enough from the human that lay, sleeping against the rocks.  
But, due to his nervousness, Kirino accidentally toppled over from where he was sitting, making a loud splash.  
Shindou gasped as he jerked awake, cold water splashed in his face. He blinked before noticing the toppled over merman in the shallow water.  
The brunette suddenly brightened, "You're finally awake!" He exclaimed.  
'_Shit_' Kirino thought. He'd been spotted. Kirino tried to swim away, but a cut on his stomach stopped him from doing so.  
"Whoa, whoa, Calm down! I'm not gonna hurt you!" Shindou insisted, "I'm just really glad you're alright! I found you covered in cuts on the shore!"  
Kirino bit his bottom lip, not sure what he should do. In the end, he ended up swimming (with very small movements, in order to not disrupt his wounds.) towards the shore, where he sat in the very shallow area just off the shore,  
"S-so, you're the one who bandaged my up and pushed me into the water?" Kirino asked.  
Shindou nodded, "Yeah."  
"Oh, I, uh, thanks…" There was a long pause before Kirino spoke again, "So you're not freaked out or anything…"  
Shindou blinked, "What would I be freaked out about?"  
Kirino moved his tail, "This"  
Shindou shrugged, "I thought it was kind of weird at first, but I quickly got over it."  
"Oh."  
By now, Kirino was showing signs of fatigue, and Shindou noticed it,  
"You look really tired, you can stay at my place, it's just on the beach over there, but I have a pool in the yard!"  
Kirino wanted to refuse, but he was too tired to swim far enough to find a safe place to sleep, and Shindou seemed like someone he could trust, no he nodded as a response.  
Shindou smiled, "Great! Meet me at the other side of these rocks!" He said, pointing to the large rocks that hid the cove they were on. Kirino nodded once more, using some of the little energy he had left, he swam around the rocks, to where Shindou was waiting, as he had just climbed over the rocks.  
The brunette looked like he was about to say something, but then he closed his mouth, thinking of something else, then he remembered what he needed to do first,  
"I never told you my name!" He said, "It's Shindou Takuto. What's your name?"  
"Kirino, Kirino Ranmaru." Kirino replied, coming up to the shore.  
Shindou gestured to a fairly large beach house nearby, "That's my place." He paused, wondering what to do next, "Should I carry you there, or can we figure something else out?"  
Kirino blushed when Shindou stated the first option. Suddenly, Kirino remembered something; it was a spell in his father's library. He'd only read how to do it, but never done it.  
"Well," Kirino spoke up, interrupting Shindou's train of thoughts, "I've read of a magic spell, it can grant a merfolk legs to walk on, but at midnight, the merfolks tail will return and the spell will need to be re-cast. It was very popular with merfolk in high-school when I was a kid."  
"Do you know how to do it!?" Shindou asked hopefully.  
"I've read about it, so yes, but I've never _actually_ done it…." There was a short pause, "But I'll try it!"  
Shindou back away slightly, just in case…  
Kirino began casting the spell, step by step, just as the book had said. Suddenly a large splash of foamy water surrounded Kirino, and when it cleared Kirino stretched a little bit, but something felt different. He moved his tail-wait a moment. Kirino gave a big, bright smile when he saw that in place of his tail were 2 legs, and he was wearing swim trunks that had the same color as Kirino's tail with a scale pattern.  
"I did it!" He exclaimed before attempting to stand up. He stood shakily on his newfound legs, and suddenly fell, not used to them. Luckily, Shindou and jumped forward and caught Kirino before he hit the ground.  
"Shall we get going?" Shindou asked, and Kirino nodded enthusiastically. Then- with a lot of help from Shindou, walked to the nearby beach house.

* * *

Once Shindou had Kirino sitting down on his couch, Shindou went to the kitchen to get the boy some water and something to eat.

Shindou tapped his foot as he looked around his kitchen. _What do mermaids eat…? It'd be rude to ask him, but don't want to give him something he'd rather not eat…  
_In the end, Shindou went with a simple salad, which to his relief, Kirino ate happily. After they both ate, Shindou asked Kirino, "Do you want to out back to the pool to sleep," (He can still breath underwater he just doesn't have a tail.)"Or is the couch okay?"  
Kirino shrugged, not wanting to ask the brunette for more then he had already given him, "Here is fine."  
Shindou nodded, bringing over a pitcher of water and a glass and placing them on the coffee table before fetching a pillow and some blankets for Kirino,  
"Well, good night! I'm just over here if you need anything." Shindou said before disappearing behind a door into his own room.

* * *

**This is an idea I head earlier, tell me what you think!**

**Also, I WILL be updating some of my other fics soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

Kirino blinked his eyes open to a dark room. It was the middle of the night, and he had woken up for some reason.  
His eyes widened when he saw the time on the clock nearby. 11:53  
_Oh no! It's almost midnight! I completely forgot!_ He thought in a panic.  
Kirino quickly ran to the back door (not without falling a few times), and slid the glass door open and dived in the pool. He felt his tail return as he dived in. '_just in time_' he thought, relieved.

The young merman leaned on the pool-wall, _I wonder if dad is worried about me…_ he thought, the memories from the night before playing in his mind.

Flashback begins

_"Dad!" Kirino called into another room in his families palace.  
"What is it Kirino!?" A rushed voice replied, "Make it quick, I'm busy!"  
"Can I go out tonight with some of my friends? Cora's having a party tonight!"  
The pink haired merman waited for a reply, his father didn't call back to him. Instead, Kirino was soon faced with a large, angry-looking merman that was known as the king,  
"Why is it you always want to go out. I've told you multiple times, There's nothing to gain from going out, only from studying and gatting better at things can you ever get anywhere. You'll be king one day, and I don't want the merfolk to be ruled by a silly party-going merman who doesn't care for the kingdom.  
Kirino frowned, "I care about the merfolk! I've been studying all day! Besides, going out and having fun relieves stress, and I'm full of that right now!"  
The merfolk king glared at his son, "I won't allow it!"  
"But dad-"  
"You're just like your mother." Kirino's father interrupted, swimming back into the room he came from, "Leaving to have 'fun' never ends well."  
Kirino just stared at his father with a broken expression for being so mean, "But-"  
"NO." He was cut off once again, "Go back to the library and study. Don't come out until you've learned something that will actually help you."  
Kirino glared at his father as he swam away. Soon after, Kirino too swam to the library, following his father orders, since he'd be in a lot of trouble if he didn't._

_His fingers ran across the books (which were made of large pieces of kelp with octopus ink) In the 'magic' section in the library. Magic was really the only skill he was interested in in. It was a commonly-practiced skill in the merfolk kingdom. He'd read all the books in that section multiple times, but this time, he pulled out his favorite spell book, which was called 'Surface magic' it was filled with spells that merfolk could use to survive in the surface world. It had been one of his mother's favorite books as well, since the spells—although probably never used were very interesting to read about.  
He read over a spell about making your tail into legs for probably the 100__th__ time, since it was always interesting to read. After the spell were records that merfolk had written when they use dthe spell, and Kirino loved reading them, in fact, he'd read them so many times that he could recite some of the records from memory. The pink haired merman heard the door open, and looked over in its direction.  
One of the palace maids swam over to him, "Kirino-sama, you know your father doesn't like you reading that book. He says it's full of nonsense." She said, plucking the book from Kirino's hands and returning it to its place on the shelves, "You father gave me a list of books for to read by tomorrow, and don't forget that the royal mentor is coming tomorrow for you to take your math, science and history exams, so make sure to study for those to." The maid said before leaving the room. Kirino frowned, slumping into his chair. He hated it. He hated the pressure. If he didn't finish all of the…(kirino checks that list of books) 6 books by tomorrow, AND get all A+'s on his exams, then he'd be seen as a disappointment by his father, and not fit to rule the empire.  
Kirino got up from the chair he was sitting on and swam to the door, he needed to clear his mind. the young merman swam out of the palace, heading to edge of the city for a nice swim in the countryside. However, he was so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed that he had left that magical barrier that shielded his city from storms.  
Kirino heard a loud roaring from his left, but he had no time to react before he was sucked into a spinning and whirling wave, tossing him around like a rag doll. The water felt like needles on him, cutting into him. The hell he was sucked into had finally abandoned him on the shore, letting the events that had just happened began._

Flashback ends

Kirino sighed, his dad would be furious when he got back. He felt his eyes slowly closing, sleep taking him over. Kirino sunk to the bottom of the pool as he fell asleep.

* * *

**I know it's a little short, but I'm working on the next chapter right now! Please, tell me what you think and send in a reveiw**

**Coming in the next chapter:**

**-Kirino learns how to use a pool ladder**

**-Shindou takes Kirino into town**


	3. Chapter 3

Kirino awoke early in the morning. He attempted to use the spell that he'd used the day before, his favorite spell that he took pride in preforming correctly, then, (with a lot of trouble) he finally discovered how to use a ladder with his new legs. Luckily, he'd been able the walk to the door without falling, he was getting used to his legs. When he got inside, Kirino checked the time, 8:36 AM. It was still kind of early. Kirino walked to the door that Shindou went into the night before and gently twisted the knob, opening the door slightly.  
Kirino giggled at what he saw. Shindou was sleeping, all spread out on his bed. The blanket was tossed onto the floor, and the pillow was wedged between his shoulder and his head. Kirino had trouble holding back his laughs when he saw that Shindou was tightly hugging a fluffy grey stuffed bunny. He wasn't laughing at the fact that he slept with a stuffed animal (although it was kind of funny), he was laughing at the fact that Shindou looked like a little kid. He was about to turn away back into the main room when Kirino heard a groggy voice from behind him,  
"Kririno?"  
Kirino turned his head to face Shindou's bed. The brunette was sitting on his bed, yawning and rubbing his eyes, "You're already up?"  
Kirino smiled and nodded, "I've only been up for a little while!"  
Shindou smiled in return, "I'll be out in a second, you can wait in the main room!"  
Kirino nodded, watching as Shindou walked into the bathroom attached to his room before the pink haired boy left the room and entered the main room.  
The main room looked like a typical beach house. It had bright wood flooring and wood paneling on the walls. In the center of the room was a set of cabana themed living room furniture and a TV. To the left of it was a dark-wood arch into what he guesses was the kitchen (Human kitchens are different from merfolk kitchens so he thought it looked weird. The door to Shindou's room was on the back wall of the room, and on the same wall was the glass sliding door into the yard. Against the opposite wall from the kitchen door was a desk and some bookshelves. A laptop sat among the scattered books (not that Kirino knew what it was). There were also stairs up to who-knows-what to his left. Kirino jumped when he heard a knock at the door,  
"Shindou-sama!" The door soon opened to reveal a girl with pale blonde hair tired up into a bun walked in. Shindou poked his head out of his room, "Ah, Kirigi-san, I'll be out in a sec!"  
Kirino stared at the girl. She was the second human that Kirino had seen up-close. For some reason, her aura just made Kirino uncomfortable, and he took a step back from her. The girl eyed Kirino she had some kind of look in her eyes, Kirino wasn't sure if it was confusion, hate, anger or if it was just a very judgemental gaze. For some reason, her seeming to know Shindou very well made Kirino feel…kind of upset, not angry, but it felt weird to Kirino. He didn't know why he felt that. Kirino lost his train of thought when he heard Shindou's door open. The brunette was wearing a simple white shirt and trousers,  
"Kirigi-san, you didn't have to come today. I already told you that!"  
Kirigi giggled, "And (pass of a chance to see you) let this house get messy? Not a chance! Besides, the school years almost over and I still need 2 more hours."  
Shindou sweatdropped, "Kirino this is my maid, Kirigi. She somehow convinced the principal that working as a maid counted at 'volunteering' and begged me to let her volunteer as my maid."  
Kirino stared at Kirigi in awe, she must have a golden tongue if she could convince someone that having a job was volunteering. Shindou turned to Kirigi,  
"Kirigi-san, this is Kirino, a friend of mine who'll be staying with me for a while."  
Shindou smiled, "Anyway, Kirino, why don't we go into town and leave Kirigi to do her job?"  
Kirino's eyes lit up, he was going to human town! He'd never been to a human town before (That's usually the case with merfolk)! Kirino nodded rapidly,  
"Sure!"  
Shindou chuckled at Kirino's eagerness when he blinked, "Oh, I forgot my phone, I'll be right back!" He said before going back to his room to get whatever a phone was (Kirino doesn't know what phones are)  
The moment the brunette left, Kirigi stopped smiling and glared at Kirino, frowning,  
"Look here, little girl, I don't know what you're planning, but stay away from Shindou-sama, he's **mine**."  
Kirino looked confused for a moment until he realized what Kirigi meant, and his face reddened in a deep blush,  
"I only met him yesterday and—WAIT did you just call me a girl, I'M A BOY!"  
Kirigi continued to glare at Kirino, "WAIT, You're a BOY!?" She looked surprised for a moment before returning to the angry look she had before, "That just makes it worse. Don't even TRY anything with him. I know you're type. You bond with him for a day, then you'll just take his fortune and leave."  
"Fortune? Shindou's rich?"  
Kirigi looked angry with herself, "That doesn't matter! Just stay away from Shindou-sama."  
Their conversation was cut short with Shindou's return though, "Okay, let's get going!"  
Kirigi returned to her usual smiley self, "Shindou-sama, are you sure about leaving? The streets are very busy today!"  
Shindou looked at Kirigi, confused, "There are always a lot of people on the streets." Shindou shrugged, "Well, let's get going Kirino, and leave Kirigi to her work!"  
Kirino nodded, following Shindou out the door, but not without getting another glare from Kirigi.

Shindou kicked some sand forward on the beach as he walked, "kirino, I noticed that you haven't toppled over again!" He pointed out with a chuckle.  
Kirino nodded, "Yeah! I think I'm getting used to these!" He replied, pointing to his legs.  
"So Kirino, what's it like, y'know, having a tail?"  
"Hmmm," Kirino thought, "Well it's definitely different! It's easier to move around with in water, and it feels more comfortable then these." He explained, lifting up his left foot slightly, "I don't know how you could always use these…"  
"Ah! We're here!"Shindou said suddenly before helping Kirino onto the boardwalk (stairs aren't really his thing). Kirino stared excitedly at the town. It was a typical beach town covered in bright colors, and full of people.  
Shindou gave a warm smile as he watched Kirino look around so eagerly, and wanting to look at everything. It reminded him of when he went on vacation when he was little, but for Kirino, this wasn't exactly a vacation…. Shindou felt something warm in his chest. He'd never felt it before, it confused him, but he easily shrugged it off.

Shindou noticed that Kirino had stopped and was staring at a particular store,  
"Hey, Shindou, what's this?"  
Shindou took a glance at the store, "A bookstore."  
Kirino brightened, "Really! Let's go inside!"  
Shindou smiled, "Sure," He rememered how Kirino said he knew magic. At the time, Shindou didn't question it because if merfolk exsisted, then why question magic? But he just wanted to make sure Kirino didn't do anything stupid, "But remember that magic is just a myth here, so they'll probably look at you like you were crazy if you asked them for their magic section!"  
"Yeah yeah! Let's just go inside!" Kirino said quickly before grabbing Shindou's hand and pulling him inside.  
Shindou slowly walked behind Kirino, making sure nothing happened, but he somehow lost him.  
Meanwhile, Kirino was scanning the fiction section when he spotted a book…A familiar book...It was a magic book from his father's library! He reached for it, but his hand collided with another at the book's spine. Kirino pulled his hand back to look at the other person,  
"S-sorry!" He said, it was his first time talking to someone other than Shindou or one of his friends. Kirino's eyes widened when he saw the lady. She was an adult woman with curly pink hair and bright blue eyes. She looked…Familiar, but Kirino couldn't place his finger in it…  
"Oh, no, it's my fault!" She pulled the book from the shelf and handed it to Kirino, "I already have a copy, but I was in the store, so I thought I'd read it! It's my favorite book!" She said with a smile. The lady waved at Kirino before walking out of the store, leaving Kirino staring at her as she left. A bunch of people with Camera's crowded the lady as she walked out, calling things to her.  
"There you are, Kirino!" Shindou said, giving a sigh of relief.  
"Hey, Shindou, who's she?" Kirino asked, gesturing to the lady from before, who was trying to get through the crowd.  
"That Kiria Nagina, she's a popular singer."  
Kirino nodded.  
"What book's that?" Shindou asked, looking at the book Kirino held.  
Kirino lifted up the book so Shindou could see the cover, it said, 'Surface magic'  
"A book from my father's library. One from the magic section, my favorite one."  
Shindou smiled, "I'll buy it for you!"  
"Oh, no, you don't need to do that!"  
Shindou pulled his wallet from his pocket, "No, I insist."  
Their conversation carried on much like this, but in the end, Shindou snatched the book from Kirino and bought it before Kirino could insist otherwise.  
"Thanks…" Kirino said, looking into the plastic bag that was given to him with the book inside it, "But you really didn't have to…"  
Shindou smiled, "I insist! Consider it to be a 'welcome to the surface' gift!"  
Kirino's fingers flipped through the pages, "What's this made of, it feels really smooth…"  
Shindou chuckled, "It's called paper, we write stuff on it!"  
Kirino stopped to look at the sky, completely forget the amazing 'paper', "Wow! I'd never seen the sunset from her before! It's beautiful!"  
Shindou stopped walking and stationed himself beside Kirino, "Yeah, it really is…" after a moment of silence, Shindou said, "We should start heading back before it gets dark!"  
Kirino nodded, "Yeah!"

* * *

**This chapter is longer then 2 for sure! Hope you like it!**

**Coming in next chapter:**

**-Tenma comes to visit!**


	4. Chapter 4

"So how'd you like your first time in town?" Shindou asked he flipped the light switch on, as the sun had went down by the time they got back to Shindou's house.  
"It was amazing! Human towns are so cool, but also kind of strange at the same time!"  
Shindou smiled, "What are Merfolk towns like?"  
Kirino thought, "Well, a lot of the buildings are made of magically-formed coral, and there aren't any of those things that moved in the center of the street, what were they called again…" Kirino trailed off.  
"Cars?" Shindou supplied.  
Kirino nodded, smiling, "Yeah, those things! We actually have artificial water currents that you swim through to get places faster. Some families have half of a large oyster that they ride in to stay together. I guess it's kinds like…cars!"  
"Artificial water currents? How do you make those!?"  
"Magic." Kirino replied.  
"You talk about magic being used a lot, is it really common?"  
Kirino nodded, "Very. Basic magic is taught in elementary school. It's a common skill and tool, it's used as much as that electricity stuff you told me about!"  
Shindou was about to reply, but a small tune echoes from his pocket, he blinked, pulling his phone out and holding it to his ear, while Kirino watched, wondering what the phone did.  
"Hello, Shindou Takuto here."  
"Hi Shindou-senpai!" The voice on the other line said.  
"Ah, Tenma, what's up?"  
"My parents* are gonna be out of town tomorrow and I wanted to know if I can hang out at your place!"  
Shindou shrugged, "I guess."  
"Great! Thanks Shindou! I'll be over tomorrow morning at 8!" Tenma said before hanging up. Shindou also hung up on his side of the phone, and immediately after, Kirino asked,  
"What was that?"  
Shindou chuckled, "It's called a phone. Other people have them to and when the dial the number linked to their phones, you can call them and the other person can pick up their phone and you can talk to each other from different places."  
Kirino listened, slowly nodding, "So like a beaded shell?"  
"A beaded shell?"  
"It's a small shell with a spell cast on it. Other merfolk can give you a special bead, and you put it inside the shell and whenever you say their name to the shell, it contacts their shell, and a bubble saying the name who contacted them floats in front of them. Then they pick up their shell and say 'answer' into the shell and then it connects with the other shell."  
Shindou nodded, "Kind of confusing, but it sounds a lot like a phone. Do have a beaded shell?" Shindou asked.  
Kirino nodded, "Of course, but I left it in my bedroom, so I don't have it with me." There was a short pause, "Who called you?"  
"A friend named Tenma." Shindou replied, "He said that his parents are out of town tomorrow and asked if he could hang out here for the day." Shindou smiled, "He's coming by at 8, if you don't mind!"  
Kirino smiled, "I can't wait to meet him!" The pinkette turned to the glass sliding door that led out into the pool in the yard, "It's been a tiring day, I think I'm gonna go to sleep!" He said before leaving the room and diving into the pool, sinking to bottom as he slowly dozed off. Shindou waved at his friend before going into his own room. It was only 10:00, but believe it or not, but Shindou had a habbit of sleeping in, so he decided to turn in early so he'd wake up in time for Tenma's arrival. Shindou opened the screen door and called into the pool,  
"Kirino! If you wake up before me and you find someone with brown hair and grey eyes standing at the door at around 8:00, open the door and come wake me up!"  
Shindou waited for a moment for some confirmation that Kirino had heard him, and sure enough, Kirino popped his head out of the water, "Okay!" he said before sinking to the bottom of the pool again. Shindou heard him mutter, 'swimming with legs is tough…' before he went underwater.  
Shindou gave a light smile. He felt that weird warm feeling from town in his chest. That warm, comforting feeling, but Shindou ignored it. The brunette yawned as he retreated to his own room, quickly falling asleep on his bed.

* * *

Kirino, like usually, woke up early. It was a habit from being woken up early everyday by the maids. Kirino did what he did the day before, re-cast the spell, climb out of the pool (which was easier for him this time) then change into the some clothes that Shindou had lent him. He was now wearing a green shirt with a while collar and brown shorts (his casual clothes from the anime, which you can find on the wiki if you don't know what they look like.)  
When he got inside, there was a knock at the door. Kirino checked the time, it was 8:00.  
The pinkette looked out the window beside the door. There was a brunette with grey eyes standing there, holding a bag. Kirino opened the door slightly,  
"Uh, you're Tenma, right?" Kirino asked nervously.  
Tenma, who was staring out at the ocean turned to Kirino, "Yeah! And you're…."  
Kirino smiled, "I'm Kirino, a friend of Shindou's. I'm staying with him for a while." Kirino moved over, leaving space in the door for Tenma to enter, "Come in, I guess. Shindou's still sleeping, I'll go wake him up." Kirino said before leaving Tenma in the main room and opening the door to Shindou's room. Sure enough, Shindou was fast asleep, spread out on the bed with the blanket tossed onto the floor and a fluffy grey bunny in his arms. Kirino walked up to him, lightly shaking him,  
"Shindou, wake up, your friend's here."  
Shindou slowly opened his eyes, yawning before giving a groggy 'okay' and grabbing his phone nearby and pushing some buttons before sitting up and streatching,  
"What did you just do?" Kirino asked, looking at Shindou's phone. The brunette looked to his friend,  
"I'm just telling Kirigi not to some today." Shindou stood up and walked to the bathroom, "I'm just gonna take a quick shower then I'll be out. You can talk to Tenma." Shindou was about to leave when he remembered to say one last thing, "Also, remember that Tenma doesn't know about you, so don't say anything that gives it away."  
Kirino nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'll wait in the main room." Kirino said before leaving the room. He sat down across from Tenma, and an awkward silence began to brew.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shindou was taking a quick shower and thinking about things. He wondered why he had felt so happy to see Kirino first thing in the morning. The various times when he felt that warm feeling close to his heart while around the pink-haired merman. Shindou sighed, having no clue what was going on with him, but for some reason, Shindou was just 10 times happier when Kirino was around. He never got those feelings around his other friends. Shindou suddenly remembered that his friends were waiting for him and he quickly finished, dried off and dressed in a simple casual outfit before walking into the main room. To his surprise, Kirino and Tenma were having a conversation.  
"And then Sasuke started running and he was still dragging me along," Tenma said with a giggle. Shindou recognized the story, it was how Tenma met him and his friends. Tenma's dog was dragging poor Tenma around town and Shindou (with the help of his friend Tsurugi) saved Tenma from being nearly killed by his dog.  
"I wish I had a pet!" Kirino said happily.  
"You've never had a pet!?" Tenma exclaimed.  
Kirino shook his head, "My dad thought they were dumb and they distracted my from my education." Kirino looked like he was about to say something else, but changed his mind at the last second. Probably something that would accidently give away his secret, "I always envied my friends who had pets and I would constantly visit them, y'know, when my dad wasn't lecturing me."  
Tenma looked at Kirino, "You've mentioned your dad a few times, but what about your mom?" Tenma asked. Shindou, now choosing to make his presence known sat down beside Kirino,  
"He's right. You occasionally say things about your dad, but you haven't said anything about your mom." He agreed with Tenma.  
Kirino looked at the floor, "My mom, she's not around anymore…" Kirino said quietly, "There was a storm, and she disappeared." He added in a whisper.  
"O-oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up…" Tenma said.  
Kirino smiled, "Oh, it's fine! It's not your fault, you didn't know!" But Shindou could see that Kirino was saddened by the memories that were brought up.

* * *

Shindou was happy. He was happy because Kirino was happy. Kirino had quickly became friends with Tenma, and the 3 of them were now sitting around the coffee table, playing a game of monopoly that they had been at for hours.  
Kirino suddenly looked up in alarm, he felt a strange tingling in his legs, "What time is it?"  
Tenma checked his watch, "Uh, 11:59, why d-"  
Tenma didn't have time to finish his sentence before Kirino suddenly stood up, running to the backyard pool.  
"I-I'll be right back!" Shindou said, running after Kirino. Kirino had tripped on his way to the pool and he was desperately trying to get back up (he needs to be in water quickly after he gets his tail again or he'll suffocate from lack of water) Shindou heard the clock inside chime midnight and he hastily picked Kirino up, tossing him in the pool, just in time.  
"Shindou-senpai…" The brunette turned to see Tenma in the doorway, staring wide eyed at the spot where Shindou had thrown Kirino, "You…"  
"It's not what it looks like!" Shindou insisted.  
Kirino, unaware that Tenma was now standing beside Shindou emerged from the water, his head above water, but his tail was still hidden underwater,  
"Thanks Shindou! That was close! I'll keep a better eye on the time next time!" He said, leaning on the side of the pool, not high enough to make his tail obvious, but just enough above water so that the orange scales of the base of his tail were visible.  
"Kirino-kun, there's…" Tenma trailed off, staring at Kirino's visible scales.  
Kirino, who had just realized Tenma was there let out a light gasp and lowered himself into the water until he was completely submerged. Shindou sighed, leaving a confused and slightly afraid Tenma as the brunette walked to edge of the pool, crouching down at the edge and looking into the water. He could see Kirino underneath, nervously biting his bottom lip. Shindou tapped the surface of the water, making Kirino look up. "Should we?" The pinkette asked, just loud enough for Shindou to hear. Shindou shrugged,  
"Only if you want to, but if we don't he's gonna be pretty suspicious of us."  
Kirino sighed, sinking into the water slightly until he was about at half of the full depth of the pool. He looked up at Shindou, who was staring into the water, and gave a slight nod. Shindou nodded in return and turned,  
"Tenma, come here" Shindou said, gesturing for his friend to come over, which he did. When Tenma was beside him, Shindou pointed into the pool, where a very nervous and scared Kirino hid, just under the surface of the water.  
Tenma's eye's widened when he saw Kirino's tail, "H-he has a tail!" Tenma exclaimed suddenly, making Kirino let himself sink into the pool, "He's a merman!" Shindou looked to Tenma,  
"He is, but I expect you to keep that a secret."  
"So, he was in a rush because his tail came back at midnight or something?" Tenma asked, thinking about the events that happened prior.  
Shindou nodded, "Basically."  
Shindou looked back to the pool. Kirino was likely sitting at the bottom of the pool, but it was hard to see exactly where he was in the dark. Shindou tapped the surface of the water once more,  
"Kirino, you can come up now." He called into the depths. "It's alright! I explained it to Tenma, he thinks it really cool!"  
Kirino looked up, hearing Shindou call him. The young merman was sitting at the bottom of the pool and could see Shindou's face looking into the water. Kirino could easily see through water at night, since he lived underwater, after all. Kirino gulped before slowly swimming up to the surface. He rose up out of the water just enough so you could see his eyes.  
"Kirino, you're a merman!?" Tenma said, still shocked. It made Kirino lower slightly, so you could only see half of his eyes. Tenma smiled, "Don't worry! That's so cool!"  
Shindou reached his hand out towards Kirino, urging him to come up from underwater. Kirino hesitantly took Shindou's hand and was pulled out of the water. Shindou helped Kirino sit at the edge of the pool, so the fins that the end of his tail was still in the water. Tenma was staring in awe at Kirino's tail when he suddenly spoke up,  
"Kirino-kun,"  
Kirino nervously replied, "Yeah…?"  
"Can I touch your tail?" Tenma asked. Kirino nearly fell into the pool, "It's just," Tenma continued, "I want to know what it feels like!"  
"I, uh, I guess…" Kirino said, caught completely off guard by the question.  
Tenma extended a hand, running his fingers along the side of Kirino's tail, "T-this is surreal!" he said, "I never thought merpeople existed!"  
"That's usually the case." Commented Shindou.  
"Also, the correct term is actually Merfolk…" Kirino added.  
"Oh, sorry, sorry! Merfolk sounds better anyways, I can see why it's right!"  
Then, just as Kirino thought he would, Tenma began bombarding him with questions,  
(just to make it easier to read, **bold** text will be Tenma and normal text is Kirino)  
"**Can you breath underwater?**"**  
**"Yes."**  
**"**How do you get legs during the day**?"  
"Magic"  
"**Magic is real to!?**"  
"Yup!"  
"**And you know magic?**"  
"Well it's a common skill back home, and the only skill I'm really interested in, so yes."  
"**By 'home', do you mean under the ocean?**"  
"Yeah, it's kinda deep, and it's also really hidden, so humans have never seen it."  
"**Why did you come here?**"  
"Um, well, I didn't exactly come here because I wanted to, I kinda got caught in a storm…"  
"**You mean that HUGE wave we were supposed to get but didn't!?**"  
"Yeah, there's a special magical barrier around my city that protects us from storms, but I was outside it when it came, but the barrier around my city weakened the wave so it was a normal wave by the time that it arrived, and I washed up on shore where Shindou found me."  
"**Hmm…Does Atlantis exist? I mean you live in the sea so you must know!**"  
"Uhh, yeah, it exists, Aunt Narikota lives there and my cousins there are really stuck up."  
"Amazing!" Tenma replied. Shindou had also been listening and learning from Tenma's interrogation, since the brunette himself was too scared to ask Kirino too many things.  
Kirino suddenly entered a coughing fit, and let himself tumble back into the pool, where he took in a large breath of water before re-surfacing, "S-sorry, to much air isn't the best for me…"  
Shindou smiled, "we should get to sleep, it's getting late!" he looked to Tenma, "I wasn't expecting you to be here this late so you can sleep over in the guest room if you want."  
Tenma nodded, "Sure." Shindou turned back to Kirino, and gave him a wave, which Kirino returned to him with a smile. That warm feeling arose in Shindou's chest again. Once they were inside, Tenma suddenly said,  
"Shindou-senpai, you have a crush on Kirino-kun, don't you?"  
Shindou blushed, his face tomato red, "I-its, uh, well, I, of course not!" he stuttered,  
Tenma chuckled, "I can tell you like him, because you look at Kirino the same way I look at Tsurugi!"  
Tsurugi was a friend of Shindou and Tenma, Tenma had a crush on Tsurugi, and everyone knows it. Well, everyone but Tsurugi himself, of course.  
Tenma's words made Shindou think, was that feeling he was constantly getting, _love_?  
Even though he tried to deny it to himself, in the end, Shindou realized what he really felt towards the pink haired merman that he found on the cove.

***remember that this is an AU, and AU where Tenma lives with his parents**

* * *

**This chapter is so long! I had a huge muse today for this fic, and the result was this!**

**The next chapter should be coming soon, especially because I want to write the part when Kirino meets Tsurugi *snicker***

**Coming in next chapter:**

**-Tsurugi makes an entrance!**


	5. Chapter 5

Kirino, like usual, woke up first, and did his usual morning routine. Cast spell, get dressed, then stole something out of Shindou's fridge. He was getting used to the human world, and many things that were strange when he first arrived didn't seem so weird anymore.  
Soon after that, Shindou came out of his room and started to eat his breakfast, which was a simple bowl of cereal, and also made some for Tenma, who came downstairs from one of the guest rooms a few minutes after. It was a very quiet moment, although Kirino could tell Tenma was thinking about what he was and how then he had a tail and now he had legs.  
Shindou was thinking about what Tenma told him the night before, and he finally admit that Tenma was right. He did have a crush on the pink-haired merman, but there's no way he'd return those feeling, after all, Kirino probably had some pretty mermaid back home.

Everyone was interrupted from their thoughts when they heard the doorbell ring. Shindou stood up to get it, "I'll be right back."  
A few moments later Shindou returned with a boy that had pointy navy hair and amber eyes and wore something like a gothic poncho.  
"T-Tsurugi-kun!" Tenma said, a light blush on his face. Kirino chuckled, it was obvious Tenma liked him.  
"Hey Tenma." Tsurugi replied, "Your parents asked me to pick you up."  
Tenma stood up, "Oh, I'll get my stuff then!"  
"Why don't you guys hang around a bit?" Shindou suggested, "Let's play hide-and-seek!" He said, winking at Tenma while subtly gesturing to Tsurugi. Tenma quickly caught on,  
"That's a great idea! How about it, Tsurugi-kun!" Tenma said, looking up to his crush.  
Tsurugi blushed slightly, turning his head away before muttering, "Sure." It was impossible for him to say no to that face.  
Shindou whispered to Kirino, "You know what hide and seek is, right?"  
Kirino nodded, "Yeah, everyone hides and one person tries to find them."  
Shindou nodded, "Great, Let's play!"  
"Who's gonna be it?"  
"I will I guess." Kirino said, lifting his hand slightly.  
"Oh yes," Shindou began, "Tsurugi-kun, this is my friend Kirino, he's staying with me for a while." He turned to Kirino, "Kirino, this is Tsurugi." He finished. Kirino nodded.  
"Should we start?"  
Shindou chuckled, nodding, "Yeah sure." He turned to Kirino, "Count to 20 then come look for us!"  
Kirino nodded before closing his eyes and starting to cont. Tenma grabbed Tsurugi and dragged him off to who-knows-where, and Shindou, having no idea where to hide even though this was HIS HOUSE, ran to the backyard, hiding behind a bush against the wall.  
Shindou pinned himself to the wall when he heard Kirino come outside. That's when he saw it. Shindou turned his head to side, only to see a HUGE daddy-long-legs spider on the wall right beside his face*.

Shindou screeched and tumbled out from his hiding spot and right to Kirino's feet. The brunette jumped up, hiding behind Kirino, who gave a light blush. Shindou whispered, 'kill it'.  
"Kill what?" Kirino asked. Shindou pointed to the spider and Kirino sighed,  
"You're ridiculous." Kirino muttered before picking up a flip-flop from the ground near the door and smashing it against the spider.  
Kirino patted Shindou's head, "Calm down, it's gone." Shindou took a sigh of relief, "Also, I found you!" Kirino added.  
Shindou made a face but then sighed, "My fault I guess!"  
"So now we just need to find Tenma and Tsurugi?" Kirino said, Shindou nodded,  
"Have you looked in the closet yet?"  
Kirino shook his head, "The first place I came was out here. I thought you be here."  
"How did you know I was outside!?" Shindou asked.  
"I'm part esper." Kirino said in a serious tone. Shindou stared at him but soon Kirino started laughing, "Just kidding, I just have a really good intuition!" he said through his giggles, and Shindou was soon laughing along with him.

"Well, here we are, the closet." Shindou said, gulping. He'd seen Tenma drag him into it and he'd been hearing strange noises ever since.  
Kirino took a deep breath in and swung open the door. Both Kirino and Shindou's eyes widened so much they nearly popped out of their heads. They looked at each other, then what they saw in the closet. Tsurugi and Tenma had finally noticed them and broke apart. The two had just interrupted a make-out session between Tenma and Tsurugi.

***based on a real experience I had**

* * *

**Do not fear**

**I am writing the next chapter as we speak**


	6. Chapter 6

**Man, I am ON FIRE today! (Also thanks to my sister for giving me idea's for a lot of this scene)**  
**Also there are more chapters being made RIGHT NOW**

**I'm not done yet**

**And it's totally not 4:30 am**

* * *

Tenma's face was beet red, and so was Tsurugi's. Tsurugi pulled Tenma closer to him before hissing,  
"Do you mind!?" and pulling the door shut again.  
Kirino and Shindou were both frozen in their places.  
"Found…them…" Kirino said slowly. "What now?"  
Shindou shrugged, "Wanna go for a swim?" He asked.  
Kirino smiled, "Sure!"

A few minutes later, after they had both changed, the two met up in front of the pool. Kirino got in first, trying to stay afloat with his legs,  
"Swimming with legs is hard." He complained before pulling himself out of the pool, "I'm gonna go find the spellbook you got me and see if I can find a reverse spell. I haven't had just a normal relaxing swim in ages!" He said before disappearing through the door.  
He re-appeared a few moments later, flipping through the book,  
"Here it is!" He said proudly, "Just as I thought!" Kirino climbed into the pool, casting the spell and smiled, triumphant when he realized his tail was back.  
"Much easier now!" He said smiling, swimming over quickly and easily to the other side of the pool where Shindou was.  
The two were enjoying a nice swim, they were both having fun, at one point, they started playing marco polo. Obviously, since he was literally born in water, Kirino was excellent at it, and never got caught by Shindou (even though he insisted the merman was cheating and hiding out at the bottom of the pool.) Both of them looked towards the door when they heard it slide open and Tsurugi walked out, "Hey, Shindou, we were just wondering do have any pizza rolls cause-" Tsurugi suddenly stopped talking, staring at something. Kirino suddenly remembered that he had his tail.

In a panicked attempt to hide the fact that Kirino had a tail, Tenma, who was right behind him tried to cover his new boyfriend's eyes, but he was on his tippy-toes since Tsurugi was taller than him, and Tsurugi easily batted Tenma's hands away.  
But in the time that he was distracted Kirino had time to re-cast the spell that gave him legs, although right when he got his legs back, he sunk to the bottom of the pool, due to the fact that he didn't know how to swim with legs.  
At this point, Kirino was sitting cross-legged on the pool floor with his arms crossed, and he let out a frustrated sigh.

Tsurugi's eyes widened, "Isn't he going to drown!?" He exclaimed, staring into the water, where Kirino had sunk but still hadn't re-surfaced.  
"He'll be fine." Shindou sighed, grabbing the long pole that was used for cleaning the pool (it was to the side of the pool at the time so it was easy to grab)  
Shindou extended the rod underwater, and poked Kirino with it. He heard Kirino complain about the poking and the brunette giggled to himself. He looked down to see that Kirino was tightly holding the pole and Shindou lifted the metal rod out of the water, lifting up Kirino in the process.  
"Kirino-san." Tsurugi said, "Why did you have a tail just now?"  
Kirino went into panic mode, and in the process, Kirino fall off the pole and sunk back to the bottom of the pool. Everyone could hear his exasperated sigh, and him pretty much yelling, "I give up!"  
"How is he talking down there!?" Tsurugi explained.  
Shindou shrugged, but never answered the question, "it's getting dark, we should go inside."  
Kirino, who had somehow gotten himself to the shallow end of the pool nodded, and was climbing out of it. When they got inside, Tsurugi and Tenma were pretty much cuddling on the couch and Kirino was showing Shindou some things in his spell book.  
Kirino stood up suddenly, "I'll be right back, I'm just going to go to the bathroom."  
Shindou nodded, continuing to look through the book himself. Tsurugi stood up, holding Tenma's hand, "Hope you don't mind, but we're staying the night." Tsurugi said bluntly, "It's 12:07 we're going to sleep."  
Shindou nodded, "Just don't even THINK about doing anything on the bed." Tenma went beet-red but Tsurugi just smirked. Shindou's eyes suddenly widened, "Wait. What time did you say it was?"  
"12:07, why?" Shindou whispered the name, 'Kirino' and ran to the hallway where the bathroom was, and sure enough, he found Kirino with his tail unconscious on the floor. The merman's breathing was light and he had to be moved to water, FAST, or he'd die.  
In a panic, Shindou picked up Kirino, bridal style, and ran to the main room, where the door to the backyard was. Tsurugi, who probably had his suspicions, but didn't know about Kirino was still in the room, but he didn't care.

"Please be okay, please be okay" Shindou muttered under his breath as he ran, hoping that the tears that had dripped off his cheeks and onto Kirino's face were enough to keep him alive while he struggled to open the door. Tenma ran over to open the door for Shindou, leaving a confused and staring Tsurugi.  
When he finally got outside, he tossed Kirino into the pool and hoped for the best.

"Why did you throw him in!?" Tsurugi yelled from the doorframe, running up to the pool, but Shindou didn't answer, he just kept whispering the same 'please be okay' over and over to himself, looking at Kirino with teary eyes.

Tsurugi stared at what he saw. Kirino had a tail.  
And was breathing water.  
"W-what's going on!?" He demanded. Tenma tugged his sleeve, "Sorry you had to find out like this, but Kirino's a merman, and he's about to die!"

* * *

**Ohhhhhhh cliffhanger**

**Coming in next chapter:**

**-Tsurugi get's 'in the know'**

**-DOES KIRINO DIE  
OR LIVE  
THAT IS THE QUESTION**

**-Some basic Rantaku fluff**

**-Maybe they go into town again IDK**


	7. Chapter 7

**I couldn't think of anything all day, but of course, ****_now _****of all times, at 1 AM I get an idea.**

**So the real question is, does he live? does he die? Maybe a little of both? Zombie merman?**

* * *

Tsurugi's eyes widened slightly, but he still retained a cool and collected expression with his hands in his pockets.  
Tears were pretty much flowing down Shindou's face, enough to fill a pot to make pasta.  
"No, no, it's not working…" he muttered to himself before standing up and looking to Tenma,  
"Tenma, open the backyard gate." Tenma nodded, running over to the edge of the yard and opening a gate in the fence that led to the beach.  
Shindou dived into the pool, lifting up Kirino, who was only at the bottom of the shallow end and removed him from the pool.  
"What are you doing!?" Tenma exclaimed.  
"Moving him to the Ocean. The water there is probably better for him." Shindou said as he ran, carrying Kirino through the open gate and to the shore.  
Within a minute or two, Kirino was laying in the water of the cove where Shindou first found Kirino. Shindou let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Kirino's breathing was slowly getting better.  
Shindou held the pink haired merman's hand tightly and eventually fell asleep while Tenma explained the situation to Tsurugi back at the house.

Blue eyes slowly opened as the sun rose, '_am I dead_' he thought when he noticed something around his hand. When he looked over to his hand, he saw another tightly wrapped around it. He looked up to Shindou sitting up against the rocks, fast asleep. '_I'm not dead?_' he thought, still tired. He observed his surroundings, '_The cove, by the ocean? When did I get here?_' He noticed the tear stains on Shindou's cheeks, and how his eyes looked red and puffy. The last thing Kirino remembered was falling onto the floor, being unable to breathe, and then blackness. Did Shindou bring him here?  
"Shindou?" Kirino said softly.  
The brunettes eyes opened slightly. His vision was a little blurry from all the crying that he did, but he saw a blurry figure with pink hair. When his eyesight cleared up a few moments later, tears welled up in his eyes when he saw Kirino. He threw his arms around the pink-haired merman,  
"Y-you're okay!" He said gleefully.  
Kirino blinked before hugging Shindou back. Kirino felt that feeling that he had felt at times prior, like when Shindou hid from the spider behind him, that fizzy feeling in his chest. He still didn't know what that was. But Shindou knew. Thanks to Tenma, he was aware of his love for Kirino and 'overjoyed' wasn't even close to describing the happiness he felt when he discovered his friend wasn't dead.

"Kirino-Kun!" Kirino looked over to the rocks to see Tsurugi and Tenma climbing over them and making their way to the two boys, "You're alright!" Tenma said happily. Tsurugi gave Kirino a small smile and a nod, in which Kirino nodded in return.

Kirino felt drops of water fall onto his shoulders. That's when he realized that Shindou was still hugging him, but now he had started crying,  
"Hey, hey, why are you crying? I'm alright." Kirino said softly.  
"I-I'm just really happy y-you're okay!" Shindou said through his sobs.  
Shindou smiled, wiping tears from his eyes, "Let's go home, Kirino."  
Kirino gave Shindou a smile in return. Soon after, he let out a small squeal when Shindou suddenly picked him up (That's right, bridal style),  
"Ah! Shindou, I can walk there on my own you know!"  
Shindou grinned, "Not a chance. I'm not letting you pull off any sort of magic while you're still so tired. You just recovered."  
Kirino smiled warmly, "I guess you're right."  
The fin on the end of Kirino's tail unconsciously twitched, since it was an automatic action, although it hit Tsurugi in the face.  
"What was that for!?" He yelled at Kirino, who was laughing so hard he almost fell out of Shindou's arms,  
"I-I didn't do it on purpose! It's just an automatic action! That twitch helps us hover when we're underwater!" He managed to explain through his giggles. Tsurugi, on the other hand, just frowned, said, "Sure" and crossed his arms, but Tenma grabbed Tsurugi's hand, making him smile.

Shindou smiled warmly at the scene, he was happier than anyone—including Kirino himself that the pink-haired merman was alright.  
"How do you want to be tossed in, Kirino?" Shindou asked with a joking tone as he walked through the gate into his yard. But Kirino didn't answer in time, and Shindou pretty much dropped him in. Once he re-surfaced, Kirino grabbed Shindou's ankle, pulling him into the water to!

"Hey!" Shindou exclaimed.  
"Revenge." Kirino said playfully before swimming to the other side of the pool.  
"Get back here you!" Shindou called, swimming over to where Kirino was.  
Tenma winked at Tsurugi, "Let's go in to!" then before he could protest, Tenma grabbed his boyfriends hand and jumped into the pool, dragging Tsurugi along with him, and the two were soon engaged in a splash-fight.  
Shindou and Kirino watched from the other side of the pool, and even though neither of them realized it, they were unconsciously holding each-others hands underwater.

* * *

**Taa daa**

**I'm trying to write more but I'm debating on what happens next.**

**Coming in next chapter:**

**-Okay so I have 2 things I want to do I'm torn between starting the main plot and taking Kirino back into town keep checking back to see if I make a decision and update this chapter.**

**-Tenma and Tsurugi leave :(**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this took longer then usual, but the reason it took so long is that I was out all day yesterday, and because, since there is a large time skip between this chapter and the last, I'm going to be writing kind of a spin-off, so sometime this week, maybe today, or something, I'll be releasing a separate fic that'll be about 13 chapters long and it's basically things that went on between chapter 7 and chapter 6.**

* * *

It had been quite a while since the *cough* accident, and Kirino and Shindou had become very close friends, and Kirino was growing used to life on land, he even learned how to swim with legs (just in case). Everything was normal—well, at least as normal as a merman who washed ashore after a storm at sea that was living with a human could be. But, little they know, a lot of things were about to change.

In a Saturday afternoon, Tsurugi and Tenma invited Kirino and Shindou out to the public pool, (totally NOT because Tenma dropped something in the deep end that he neither Tsurugi could reach.) Shindou said he had some things to do, financial stuff mostly, like sending cheques to Kirigi and the pool-cleaner that came in every few days. Kirino, having nothing to do, went along with Tenma and Tsurugi. It was about an hour and a half later, when Kirino returned that their "normal" life changed drastically.

"Ah, Kirino, you're back." Shindou said as he heard the door open. Shindou stayed in his position, hunched over his couch,  
"Is something wrong?" Kirino asked.  
"I found her passed out on the beach." Shindou explained, gesturing for Kirino come over to him. Lying on his couch was a young woman with dirty brown hair tied up, and she was wearing a black shirt with a white Apron on top and a purple skirt.  
"I seem to be finding a lot of people unconscious on the beach recently!" Shindou added with a chuckle.  
Suddenly she woke up, "Kirino-sama!" she blurted out in a worried tone as soon as she opened her eyes. She obviously didn't know anything about what was going on.  
"Akari?" Kirino asked, confused.  
Akari looked happy that she found Kirino so easily; she stood up and bowed, "Kirino-sama! I'm so glad I found you! You must come home immediately! The king needs your help!"  
Shindou just watched the scene play out, completely confused on what was happening.  
Kirino frowned, "I've helped dad tons. What does he want me to do now?" He said angrily.  
Meanwhile, in Shindou's mind, he was putting two and two together.  
_"The __**king**__ needs your help!" and "I've helped __**dad**__ tons."  
_Those lines played in his mind over and over until it clicked. His eyed widened and he stared at Kirino before exclaiming,  
"Wait, Kirino, you're the merfolk PRINCE!?"  
Kirino just looked at Shindou, blinking, "Yeah, I didn't tell you?" Before Shindou could answer, Akari (who Shindou suspected to be a maid or something, based on her outfit.) interrupted,  
"Kirino-sama, this isn't just a little task, the merfolk are in trouble!"  
Kirino froze, "W-what happened!?"  
Akari looked glum, "That's just it, we don't know. But the king is slowly growing weaker and the merfolks power is fading! We need you to come home! Your father fears that 'it' is back."  
Kirino's eyes widened, "I-it?" Shindou stared at him, confused, what was 'it'?  
"Your father said that you had inherited your mother's seemingly infinite supply of magic, and requested that I came and got you!"  
"I see—wait, how did you know I was here!? When did you find out!?"  
"Your father knew from the start." Akari said flatly, "He wanted to test you. That's why no one came earlier to find you. In fact, one of your friends came to the surface to find you, since the royal advisor suggested that your friends be aware, but he was stopped before finding you. The king wanted to see how you would do." Akari leaned near Kirino's ear and whispered, "Your father had the same experience as you. Your mother wasn't born a mermaid. She was transformed. That's why you can use magic to gain legs so easily; you have human blood in you."  
Kirino's eyes widened from shock, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. Your father wanted to keep it a secret. He thought that if word got out, the merfolk wouldn't want you to rule." Akari said quietly.  
"So…You're leaving." Shindou said slowly, the shock from early slowly fading.  
Kirino nodded, "I have to."  
Shindou looked up, tears in his eyes, "I'm coming with you!" He exclaimed before running to the bookshelf and grabbing Kirino's spellbook, flipping through the pages, "There has to be a way!"  
Kirino stared at Shindou. There was a good chance that he wasn't going to be able to come back. He would miss his friend. That's when Kirino realized it. His true feelings for Shindou. He always passed off that warm feeling in his chest as nothing, but it was actually _love_. Love for his best friend. Kirino was sad, he had to leave Shindou, but it was him or the Merfolk kingdom. Kirino saw Akari grip something in her apron pocket, and she nervously bite her lip. She couldn't stand seeing Kirino looking so sadly at Shindou, and Shindou's tears on the pages of the book as he frantically looked through the spells.  
"There is a way!" She blurted out suddenly, causing both boys look in her direction,  
"I was supposed to give this to Kirino's mother, an attempt from the king to have her return…" Akari pulled her hand out of her pocket, and inside it was a necklace with a purple seashell on it, "But I don't think she'll want it." Akari continued, "And I think it'll be hard to get to her now, with the fame she's acquired. What do they call her here? Oh, yes, Kiria Nagina! Maybe you've seen her."  
Memories from the first time he went to the bookstore flooded Kirino's mind, particularly, the lady (who he later found out was a famous singer called Kiria Nagina) muttered the words_, "I always wondered if my son liked that book to"_ with a warm smile on her face before waving and leaving the store. That was, his mom, who went out with her friends years ago to prove a pint and "disappeared" in a storm that very same night. She didn't die. And his father knew it all along. Shindou interrupted his train of thoughts when he spoke to Akari,  
"So what does it do?"  
"It allows you to breathe underwater and withstand high water pressures." Kirino cut in, "I remember reading about it. It was in one of the books father wanted me to read."  
Akari smiled, "See, the king has you read so many books everyday so you learn important things like that!" Akari suddenly got serious, "We must hurry, we have to get back to the city!" she reminded them, handing Shindou the necklace that let him breath underwater.  
"Well, I'm stuck with these legs 'till midnight, so…" Kirino trailed off.  
Akari pulled something out of her other pocket, it was a note written by his father.  
"I almost forgot! The king wrote this down in a rush and said to give this to you"  
"What is it?" Shindou asked, looking over his friends shoulder.  
"A spell, to shorten the time I have with my legs to sunset!"  
Shindou looked out the window, "It's sunset now! We should hurry!"  
"Yes, lets' go." Akari said, opening the door, "And don't worry about me, Kirino-sama, that spell effects for all Merfolk in the vicinity.*"  
Kirino and Akari ran to the shore, leaving Shindou trailing after him, but he was stopped by a figure standing in front of him,  
"Shindou-sama! Where are you going!?"

***I know I didn't mention it in the actual story ****mostly because I didn't have anywhere to fit it in**** but the reason it effects all Merfolk in the area around the spellcaster is because the spell was originally made for groups of Merfolk. Mostly rebellious teens who came up to the surface, as Kirino mentions when he first explains a spell, 'the spell to gain legs was very popular with Merfolk in high-school when he was a kid'**

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**I have most of the next chapter typed all ready, but I always love to leave chapters on stupid and pointless cliffhanger, also I still need to add things to the next chapter, so expect it either today or tomorrow!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ahhhh sorry this took so long! I suddenly got writers block and it stayed for a while! I finally finished this chapter though!**

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Shindou looked up to see Kirigi standing in the sand,  
"Are you going swimming with Kirino-san!? I thought I told you that it wasn't a good idea to be around him. He seems kind of sketchy."  
Shindou frowned, "He's perfectly fine, and not sketchy at all!"  
Kirigi grabbed Shindou's shoulders, pulling him closer, she whispered in his ear, "Wouldn't you much rather spend a night with me!?"  
Shindou pushed Kirigi away before she tried anything else, "I have to go." He said bluntly before to running to where Kirino and Akari were, leaving an angry Kirigi. If anyone was sketchy, then it would be HER.

"Ah, Shindou! What took you so long!?" Kirino asked when Shindou arrived,  
"Never mind, just hurry!" Shindou replied quickly, putting the necklace around his neck, and he saw the shell emit a dim glow.  
Kirino lifted the note with the spell on it, and muttered the words while moving his hands through the water with particular movements.  
When he was done, Kirino hoped for the best and smiled when he saw his familiar orange scales running down his legs, binding them together. He looked over to Akari and her purple scales were doing the same. He was about to dive in when he heard someone call his name,  
"Ranmaru!" He turned to see Kiria Nagina, no, his mother smiling at him from the boardwalk, "Good luck!"  
Kirino smiled, before grabbing Shindou's hand and taking him underwater.  
At first, Shindou held his breath. Kirino laughed,  
"You can breathe you know, Shindou!"  
Shindou gulped, letting out the rest of the air from his lungs and took in a breath of water.  
"I-it worked!" Shindou exclaimed, "I-I'm talking...Underwater!" Kirino chuckled; Shindou's excited and surprised expression was so cute.  
"I know it's amazing, but we must hurry! We have to get back before something happens!" Akari interrupted. Kirino nodded, holding Shindou's hand to guide him through the water.  
They were swimming for about 2 hours or so before the three were showing signs of fatigue.  
"Some fish told me that it would take 2 days to swim back, we'll have to stop for a while, swimming at night could be dangerous." Kirino said. Shindou glanced at him, he could talk to fish to?  
Akari nodded, "Yes, but luckily the route we're taking has an ocean current we can ride and get back in only 1."  
"Where is it?" Shindou asked.  
"Here!" Akari replied, swimming over to a particular part of the water. It looked no different than the rest of the water, but the water flowed along a quick current. "If we just stay in it, it will move us while we rest." She made sure that Kirino and Shindou had entered before entering the current herself.  
Somewhere along the way, Shindou had managed to doze off before all the others, even though Kirino and Akari were doing most of the swimming (since Kirino was just pulling him along.)  
"-indou, Shindou, hey, the current we used ends here." Shindou heard Kirino say to his as he slowly opened his eyes. After registering what Kirino said he nodded, sat up and stretched. After that, Akari swam out, followed by Kirino who pulled Shindou along with him,  
"How long were we on the current?" Shindou asked.  
"A few hours. It should be sunrise now." Akari answered, "Ah, we're here!" she said pushing some seaweed to the side.

Shindou's eyes widened, the city looked magnificent! But, it was empty.  
"Huh? Where is everyone?" Kirino asked before getting shushed by Akari,  
"Shh, Kirino-sama, it's dangerous out right now, we have to get to the palace, quick!" Kirino was about to say something else, but was shushed even before he started speaking.

Akari led them to a huge palace via the city outskirts.  
Shindou stared at it, _this_ was where Kirino lived? His parent's mansion (his house in the anime) was a _HUT_ compared to the castle in front of him.  
When they were at the gates, Akari fumbled with the keys she had with her before opening the gate,  
"We have to get inside, quickly!"  
Once both boys were inside, she closed the gate and they approached the front door.  
2 guards holding spears were at either side of the front door. They got into a fighting stance when they heard someone coming.  
"Relax, Choro, it's just me. We're back." Akari said as they swam up to the door. The guards bowed to Kirino,  
"Prince Kirino, you've returned." One said,  
"We welcome you home."  
Kirino blushed, embarrassed, "How many times have I told you that you don't need to be so formal…."  
The guards didn't answer, they just opened the doors to inside the castle. When they entered, the 3 maids in the lobby bowed towards them, saying "Welcome home, Kirino-sama!" Before they swarmed the pink-haired merman.  
"Are you okay?"  
"Are you hurt?"  
"Should we get you something to eat?"  
"Maybe a pillow?"  
They asked, in which Kirino said no to all questions.

"I'll inform your father that you've returned." Akari said, bowing before leaving the room.  
Kirino took Shindou's hand again, pulling the brunette along with him, up the grand staircase* to a huge door.  
"Follow me, I need to check something."  
Shinodu nodded, not really paying attention. He was staring around in awe.  
He, Shindou Takuto, was currently the royal palace of the _Merfolk_ capital city. If you had told him that he'd be here now about 3 months ago, he would've thought it was a funny joke, but now it didn't seem to unlikely to him.  
Kirino swung open the huge colorful coral doors to a _huge_ room.  
I was kind of a large T shape. The flooring was made of something that looked like marble, with a platform on the left side of the T shaped room. On top of the platform was a huge canopy bed. 2 tabled rested on either side of it and glowing yellow orbs floated over each table.  
In the center of the room was a large centerpiece made of exotic plants. Shindou, who assumed this was Kirino's room, didn't think this was what his friends room would be like. His brown eyes finally reached the right side of the T in the strangely shaped room, and THAT looked like it would belong to Kirino. It was about the size of Shindou's actual room, and in it there was a dresser that was covered with clutter, a bookshelf stuffed with books with a comfy-looking chair beside it. There was a desk, a mirror, and all the other things you'd expect to find in a teenage boys room.  
There was one door on each of the 2 walls on either side of the entrance that led off to who knows where.

Kirino swam over to his dresser, picking up a shell from his dresser. It was just a simple small conch shell, but it had a glowing center.  
"I need to know what's going on, why the city is abandoned." The pink haired merman muttered something into the shell he held and waited for a moment. Soon, the glowing center went from green to pink, and Kirino held it up to his ear. From where he was, Shindou heard a faint 'hello?' from the shell. '_those must be those beaded shell things that he told me about_' Shindou thought.  
"Hikaru!" Kirino spoke into the shell, "What's going on!? Where is everyone!?"  
"K-Kirino? You're back! When did you-" Hikaru replied from the other side.  
"Sorry Hikaru, now's not a good time for a conversation! Can you please tell me what's going on outside! The city's abandoned!"  
"I don't know!" Hikaru began, "I was with the others the day of Cora's party when the royal guards came into the town and told us all to stay inside! We haven't been allowed to leave our houses since!"  
"How long has it been!?" Kirino asked.  
The words, "It happened the day you disappeared, about 2 days ago the king said he sent someone to find you!"  
Before the conversation could continue, Akari knocked on the door,  
"Kirino-sama, your father wants to see you."  
Kirino nodded, saying something before placing the shell back onto the table and swimming to the door, motioning for Shindou to follow him.

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**Poor Shindou spent most of this chapter confused!**

**Coming in next chapter:**

**-Shindou meets Kirino's dad**

**-'I'T' makes an appearance**


	10. Chapter 10

**Ahhh I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long! But I swear I'm not dead! I finally have my muse for this fic back, so expect more updates soon! Also you'll notice I started to ****_actually_**** work on the side-story of what happened between chapters 7 and 8!**

**I also have a vampire!Tsurugi kyouten on the way as well!**

**Anyways, here it is, the long awaited chapter 10!**

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"Was that a beaded shell?" Shindou asked as he, Kirino and Akari swam down the hallway. Kirino smiled at Shindou,  
"Yeah! They're cool, aren't they?"  
Shindou chuckled, "To me, definitely, but they must be so normal to you!"  
Kirino shrugged, "Well, everything here seems normal to me, but the look on your face as you look at everything his hilarious!"  
Shindou's face had a light blush, "S-shut up." She stammered, "Of course I'm looking at everything, It's not like I've been this far underwater."  
Kirino giggled, "You look just like me when I was at the surface for the first time. Everything seemed to strange. I still don't understand the whole point in cars."  
Shindou smiled, "I guess you're right." There was a short pause before Akari spoke up,  
"We're here." She said, open 2 large coral doors into a room that was probably 3 times the size of Kirino's!  
Kirino entered the room, and Shindou gulped .

A huge bed was centered against the back wall, and the royal doctor was beside it, digging through his medical kit.  
Kirino quickly swam over to his father,  
"Father! What happened!? Why do you look so sick?" He said, worried.  
Kirino's father looked over to his son and smiled,  
"Good, Akari managed to find you. Ranmaru, you have to listen, I don't' have much time-"  
Kirino cut his father off, "Don't say that father! I sure the doctors can-"  
"RANMARU." The pink-haired mermaid was cut off suddenly by his father yelling, who was quickly scolded by the doctor shortly afterwards, "Listen Ranmaru, something terrible is happening. They're coming, you have to-"  
He was halted from speaking when a sudden explosion rocked the palace. One of the maids hurriedly swam in, "King Kirino, Prince, they're here!" She said in panic.  
"W-what's here?" Kirino asked nervously.  
He was replied with his father whispering, "It."  
The maid that warned them pulled Kirino out of the room, "Come, we have to get you ready."  
"Ranmaru, you go ahead, I want to have a little chat with your friend here." The Merfolk king said as his son was dragged out of the room.  
Shindou, who was having a conversation with one of the maids gulped and nervously said, "M-me?"  
The Merfolk king motioned for him to come closer, "Come over here, boy. I don't bite."  
Shindou nervously made his way over to the king.  
"What's your name?" Was what he was asked first.  
"Shinou Takuto."  
The Merfolk king looked Shindou over with a critical eye before smiling, surprising Shindou,  
"I just wanted to thank you for taking care of my boy!"  
Shindou blinked, "I,uh, your welcome…"  
"He didn't cause any trouble, did he? When he was little Ranmaru was known for breaking every breakable thing in the room."  
Shindou chuckled, "Not really, nothing I couldn't deal with!"  
There was a short pause before the king spoke again,  
"Tell me, Shindou, just how to you feel about Ranmaru?"  
Shindou panicked inwardly, "Oh, well, you see, I-"  
He was stopped from continuing his stammering when the Merfolk king started…Laughing!  
"You like him, no, _love_ him, don't you?"  
Shindou's face flushed red as he tried denying it, but he was quickly seen through, "You're a terrible liar, aren't you?" Commented the king, making Shindou sigh,  
"Is it _that_ obvious?"  
The Merfolk king smiled, "Well, I can see you making goo-goo eyes at him from across the room, and judging by the way that the maid gossip I assume everyone in the palace knows by now except for Kirino himself!"  
Shindou sighed once more, "So it is…"  
The king smiled, placing a hand on Shindou's shoulder, "Take good care of Ranmaru when I'm gone, will you?" Before Shindou could repy, the Merfolk king reached to side of his bed, lifting up a trident, "Now let's get going! Don't want to leave Kirino and the others alone with IT."

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**Okay I knew I said IT would come but this chapter didn't go as it was originally planned, but there's some fun stuff here!**


	11. Chapter 11

A silence hung in the air as Shindou and Kirino's father made their way to the front entrance of the palace,  
"So," Shindou started, "What exactly _is_ IT?" He asked.  
The Merfolk king replied, "2 demons who terrorized the Merfolk kingdom for hundreds of years in the past. They've been sealed away for 1000 years but they've somehow gotten loose. We have to stop them before they gain too much power." Another loud explosion echoed.

When they reached the main foyer of the palace, it was filled to the brim with armored Merfolk wielding weapons of all sorts. I the center was Kirino, who was waiting for his father. When he spotted the Merfolk kings trident poking up over the crowd, he swam in that direction. Kirino gasped when hen saw Shindou,  
"Father, why did you bring Shindou! I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if he got hurt!" He blurted out suddenly.  
His father frowned, "He's gotten himself wrapped up in this mess, and now he's going to fix it."  
Shindou nodded, "Kirino, I told you that I'm coming down here with you, and I intend to stay with you."  
Kirino gave a small smile and his father gave the order to move out as another explosion shook the room.

Everyone swam to the town square at full speed, and gasped at what they saw. The large tower in the center of the square was torn to rubble! 2 beings—that looked like Merfolk, but they were made out of ink or smoke of some sort hovered nearby,  
"Where is it?" The female one hissed, her sentence being continued by the male one, "Where is the seal?"

"Who are they?" Shindou whispered to Kirino, who glanced in his friends direction as he explained, "They're IT. Their names are literally I and T."  
Shindou nodded in return, not wanting to cause to much noise.

The Merfolk king swam forward, "Id there something you're looking for?" He said loudly to IT.  
The female one, I, turned her head and glared at Kirino's father before shooting a ball of dark energy, which the king dodged easily, "Where is the stone? Where is the seal?" I hissed loudly in return.

The king frowned, "It's in a safe place, and you WILL be returned to it!" he said, pointing his trident at IT and firing a magical attack at them.

T, the male one, smirked and raised his hand, literally catching the attack and throwing it back. The area where it was aimed cleared quickly and there was a large explosion. When the dust cleared, a crater was left on the seafloor.  
After his attack, the king began to sink slightly and I laughed, "A king that can't even handle a little dark magic!? What has this kingdom come to?" She said. The king attempted to fire another shot, but it was easily dodged by IT.  
"Father! Come back! You can't do this yourself!" Kirino called to the Merfolk king.  
I froze and turned her gaze to Kirino, "What? This kingdom has a prince now? Why what else has happened since we were away?" She glanced at T who nodded and extend his hand in Kirino's direction. T gave an evil laugh and used magic to drag Kirino, who tried to break free using his own magic, and almost succeeded (to T's surprise) a few times, closer to him. Unfortunately, T was much more highly trained in magic then Kirino and managed to capture him.  
The army was prepped to attack but I raised her hand as signal for them to stay still,  
"I wouldn't advise that!" She materialized a dagger out of dark magic on her hand and held it to Kirino, "One move and I won't be afraid to slit this poor boys neck."  
Everyone froze and Shindou was staring at the scene in terror. He felt utterly useless. He said Kirino being held hostage by the ultimate evil and he was completely useless.  
"Let him go!" The king demanded. IT ignored him and I placed her hand on Kirino's forehead. Her eyes widened suddenly and glowed white, her face completely emotionless. When the glow in her eyes disappeared, Kirino looked weakened and hurt, but I was laughing, "Well, guess who found the seals location hidden in the princes memory!" She cackled, "We won't be needing him anymore." T was about to let Kirino go when he had an idea. T whispered something to I, who gave an evil smile, "What an excellent idea." She commented. Her black eyes turned to the Merfolk king. I smirked while T made sure Kirino was watching and shot a powerful dark magic attack at the king, who didn't have any time or strength to move out of the way was ultimately hit by the attack. When the dust cleared there was nothing left but the unmoving body of the Merfolk king. T let go of Kirino and he hurriedly swam to his father.

The Merfolk king opened his eyes slightly and said with the last of his strength, "Ranmaru. Find the seal, lock away Iia and Tios" after saying that, the kings eyes closed and he went limp.  
Tears welled up in Kirinos eyes and IT disappeared, leaving their words, "We must get under. We must get the stone" echoing in the silent town.

Shindou swam to Kirino, who was crying his eyes out. He put his hand on Kirino's shoulder, who just whispered, "H-he's gone." There was a long silenced until Kirino turned, glaring at the spot where IT was, only moments ago. Rage burned in his eyes, "I vow, that I WILL destroy IT."

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**It was short, but a lot happened!**

**I told you we would find out what IT is, we even get to see them!**

**Anyways, I ****_might_**** update again today, if I think of anything else long enough. I'm also thinking of publishing my vampire! tsurugi kyouten but I don't know what to call it -.-**


End file.
